Preliminary contract talks between the Penguins and center Mark Letestu are underway, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
The talks between the two sides began this week and are expected to pickup within the next couple days. The Penguins reached out to Letestu’s camp in December expressing interest in working out an extension before the end of the regular season.
Letestu, 25, is a restricted free agent at seasons end and has collected 9 goals and 18 points in 44 games.
He has emerged as a consistent right handed centerman in the faceoff circle at 54.1% and is developing into a potential 15+ goal scorer.
Letestu is making $500,000 this season.
Talks are expected to center around a two year deal although the Penguins have shown a willingness to go three years with role players in their 20’s who in turn take a lower cap hit.
The Penguins have just five forwards signed to contracts for next season.
No deadline has been established with Letestu’s camp for getting a deal done and the same goes for the rest of the Penguins targets on one year deals.
Last year the Penguins went into March with extensions, reaching deals with Kris Letang and Brent Johnson.